(last updated: 05/15/23)Since the dawn of time, man has fought.
The fictional world on MotM, or the world as you know it, has roughly proceeded apace with the natural world with effectively none of the major events that shaped the real world that the player is familiar with changing appreciably in nature between the two before the game's IC start date. Many of the most defining moments in game history are elements that occurred seamlessly with the natural world as we know it.
However, many of the worst wars and the greatest dynasties that the world is now historically familiar with were propped up by people with sufficient martial prowess so as to be able to singlehandedly dictate the flow of history. El Cid, Genghis Khan, King Richard the First, Vlad the Impaler, Sun Tzu, John Dillinger, Jesse James and Oda Nobunaga are all examples of powerful fighters who have graced history's pages. In the world as you know it, legends and myth have a patina of truth to them; because the martial arts are known as some of the most powerful combat tools known to man.
In the contemporary world on the cusp of 2015, battle has grown less lethal and more sportslike. The advent of the modern tournament is said to have contributed to the soothing of the public's taste for blood. Now, rising slowly over the years from underground spectacle to the infamous international World Warrior tournament, fighting has become a household industry with many commercial interests competing for sponsorship of some of the world's greatest fighters, where high class tournaments can command the same or more respect than the Superbowl, World Cup, or the Olympics.
However, not everyone is satisfied with the weak-willed way things have turned. Dark and evil forces both ancient and commercial alike conspire for their own gains, to bring the world back to the brink of chaos once more. What side will you fight on?
Factions - Characters organize themselves into groups. Here are some of them.
Fighting - A bit more detail about combat from an IC perspective.
Magic - Sufficiently advanced technology.
Metanatural - Strange fireballs and psychic powers are no basis for a system of government.
Politics - Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Series - Some series made it onto MotM relatively intact; others required changes.
Technology - Cellphones and VTOL aircraft are okay. Time travel and warp drive... less so.
Tournaments - Major tournaments have taken place
World - The world is exactly like the real world -- except where it isn't.
Year One - The game timeline has reset, so everyone has a chance to begin anew.
Timeline - The current timeline of events since reset.